Maintenance Chemotherapy of Stage Ⅲ Epithelial Ovarian Carcinoma-Focusing on Individualized Maintenance Chemotherapy

OBJECTIVE To investigate the role of maintenance chemotherapy on stage Ⅲ ovarian carcinoma. METHODS A retrospective analysis was conducted of 47 stage Ⅲ ovarian carcinoma patients with clinical complete remission after first-line chemotherapy. Among these patients, 21 cases were treated with maintenance chemotherapy, while the other 26 cases were free of treatment until progression. The 2 groups were compared with respect to progression-free survival （PFS） and overall survival（OS）. RESULTS The median PFS and OS were not significantly different between the 2 groups. For those patients, in a subgroup of suboptimal surgery （residual disease 〉2 cm）, the median PFS was 110 weeks and 56 weeks and the median OS was 223 weeks and 157 weeks for the maintenance and non-treated respectively. Both PFS and OS values favoured the maintenance group, P=0.004 and P=0.015 respectively. In a subgroup of optimal surgery （residual disease ≤2 cm）, the differences were not significant. CONCLUSION Patients with stage III ovarian carcinoma with clinical complete remission may benefit from maintenance chemotherapy, if the residual disease is 〉2 cm. To those with a residual disease ≤2 cm, the maintenance chemotherapy maybe of no value. So “individualized maintenance chemotherapy” should be conducted in the clinical setting.

Maintenance chemotherapy of stage III epithelial ovarian carcinoma-focusing on individualized maintenance chemotherapy

Objective To investigate the role of maintenance chemotherapy on stage III ovarian carcinoma. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted of 47 stage III ovarian carcinoma patients with clinical complete remission after first-line chemotherapy. Among these patients, 21 cases were treated with maintenance chemotherapy, while the other 26 cases were free of treatment until progression. The 2 groups were compared with respect to progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival(OS). Results The median PFS and OS were not significantly different between the 2 groups. For those patients, in a subgroup of suboptimal surgery (residual disease >2 cm), the median PFS was 110 weeks and 56 weeks and the median OS was 223 weeks and 157 weeks for the maintenance and non -treated respectively. Both PFS and OS values favoured the maintenance group,P=0.004 andP=0.015 respectively. In a subgroup of optimal surgery (residual disease ≤2 cm), the differences were not significant. Conclusion Patients with stage III ovarian carcinoma with clinical complete remission may benefit from maintenance chemotherapy, if the residual disease is >2 cm. To those with a residual disease ≤2 cm, the maintenance chemotherapy maybe of no value. So “individualized maintenance chemotherapy” should be conducted in the clinical setting.